HalloWine Fest 2017 | Phoenix Market City | Bangalore

Thanks to the influence of the West, days like Halloween are being celebrated across cities in India and our very own Phoenix Market City brought in Halloween with a twist in the form of spirits – Wine hence aptly called HalloWine!

Halloween has always been associated with ghoulish costumes though some say it is associated with All Souls Day or All Saint’s Day, a day for remembering the ones you have lost and a celebration of their life. However thanks to commerialization it has transformed into a day for costume parading as zombies or witches, pumpkin carving and trick or treating by kids across the world.

Hence keeping the sentimentalities of the current generation, a Halloween themed Wine Festival was organised at Phoenix Market City, Bangalore from 27th – 29th October 2017. The festival proudly showcased some of the best wineries in Karnataka and in the country giving us a taste of their finest wines. As part of the feel of a wine festival, we also got to enjoy grape stomping session which was a hit among the younger generation. Some of the wines showcased at this 3 day festival were Sula, Big Banyan, Black Buck and many more.

The food scene was not far behind with Bar Bar, Cafe Noir and some amazing food trucks such as The Rolling Chef, Smoke Signal BBQ and India’s first BBQ Bike delighting the taste buds of the festival goers. I am a big fan of the food served in food trucks and the crowd milling outside The Rolling Chef is an indication of the popularity of their brand of food.

The BBQ Bike was not far behind without many curious shoppers stopping to check out the grilling scenes atop a bike. I love a good BBQ chicken and had my fill with a BBQ boneless chicken from the Smoke Signal BBQ truck along with my chosen wine.

There was something for everyone as a wide range of entertainment was organized over the course of 3 days including some spectacular Dance,Karaoke and Live band performances by Billy Rouge featuring Riccha Paul, Illusionist Aakarsh, Karaoke Jockey Naveen, Zehen feat. Etram Dance Academy, DJ night by DJ Vipul Khurana and hip-hop in Latin American style by Artesanato Pulso. The bands had the crowd on their feet and the Courtyard was filled with shoppers and music lovers all through the fun filled evening.

While the older, more sophisticated generations spent more of their time checking out the wine collection on display, the younger generation had the opportunity to meet the famous Annabelle character & the Skeleton Man at the venue.

This was my first experience of the second edition of HalloWine and it was an interesting, fun filled celebration with wine, music, food, an experience I look forward to revisiting next year.